Chapter 179: Chaos

"It increased by so much..."

Calculating quickly, the supreme-grade Ice Spirit Pill, enhanced by the frigid flame, didn't achieve the perfect 50% increase, but rather around 30-40%.

The actual effect should be a growth of 130 to 140 drops of True Essence, which was due to his still lacking technique.

"The impact is actually minor, just for this one spirit pill. Within two years, I'll reach the peak of Foundation Establishment Stage 3 and can begin my first Essence Condensation. Moreover, the Corpse Demon Secret Art is almost complete."

Closing his eyes in thought, Wang Yu realized he had been incredibly busy these past one or two years.

Among the plans he needed to complete was the goal of expanding Guiling City's market.

"Continue refining."

Beside him, the three-tailed snow fox let out a few soft chirps, making Wang Yu smile. "Don't worry, the next batch is for you. You'll have plenty to eat."

When consuming supreme-grade spirit pills, the pill resistance created was minimal, and the upper limit was significantly higher than during the first stage. This was because a cultivator's resistance to the rules of heaven and earth increased after their life level ascended.

Wang Yu estimated the limit to be around 20 pills. This didn't really matter, as there were many other pill formulas that could enhance cultivation. If one type reached its limit, there were other kinds that could be consumed.

While he was in seclusion refining pills in the underground spirit vein, he wasn't entirely oblivious to worldly affairs. His disciple would occasionally visit him to report on recent happenings in Guiling City.

Many of these reports involved the Ancient Ruins of Dongjijing.

This place was different from a secret realm; secret realms had opening cycles, but the ruins were simply there, available for exploration at any time.

The reason it had attracted so many people recently was ultimately due to the celestial phenomena that had appeared.

This wave of exploration would conservatively last for several years. Once a fortunate individual obtained the treasure related to the phenomena, a great free-for-all would ensue.

Guiling City, being close by, saw its human traffic surge several times over, and all kinds of businesses within the city experienced multi-fold growth. This was a good opportunity to develop the city.

Similarly, public order and stability gradually declined, leading to chaos. Incidents of murder and treasure snatching frequently occurred within the city.

Wang Yu couldn't do anything about this; he didn't dare leave the City Lord's Manor!

He could only grant more law enforcement authority to the Ink Wash Sect as compensation for leaking their information. This compensation was a bit tricky, as Guiling was truly chaotic at the moment.

Law enforcement power wasn't necessarily all good.

However, after this period, their influence in the North City District would expand accordingly. Wang Yu would not reclaim the authority; he understood the trade-off.

On the other hand, some resource production sites outside the city were attacked by unknown groups of cultivators. Wang Yu adopted a strategy of retrenchment, letting go of whatever he could.

He was just waiting for something big to happen at the Dongjijing ruins, to attract everyone's attention, so he could secretly reclaim these resource points.

There was nothing he could do. His recent prominence had been too great; even his notoriously volatile nature had become famous in Yunling State. Even within the demonic cultivation environment, he was considered among the most insane.

This undeservedly added to his "reputation."

Of course, Guiling City was gathering momentum, with the potential to become a storm center, but the Ancient Ruins of Dongjijing, further to the east, had become the true eye of the storm.

Many people would specifically visit Guiling to check the publicly available information before entering.

This included maps of the ruins produced by successive Guiling City Lords, "safe routes" from the Ink Wash Sect, and conjectures and clues about various treasures and inheritances from Jinman Pavilion.

These were all sources of chaos.

Wang Yu concealed a tiny bit of information in his publicly released intelligence. Although most of it was true, regarding certain powerful and rare monsters, this concealment was deadly!

Old Master Wang was kind-hearted; after repeatedly using them, he sent the strong among them to their deaths.

There was nothing he could do. Since he had already offended them, he might as well use the geographical advantage and timing to casually harm them, which would also reduce the pressure he would face in the future.

He did not conceal information about common monsters, such as Corpse Ghouls and Corpse Imps formed from ancient corpses. His intelligence on some formations and restrictions was also very accurate.

As time passed, capable individuals gained more and more rewards. This output of treasures and inheritances, far exceeding previous amounts, attracted even more people.

These individuals, indebted to City Lord Wang, helped to somewhat turn around the situation in Guiling.

However, at the Dongjijing ruins, the number of people consumed daily grew increasingly large. In this situation,

A year passed by quickly.

While immersed in pill refining, Wang Yu did not neglect his daily cultivation. With the aid of pills, his efficiency improved by leaps and bounds.

His True Essence accumulation directly surged to over four hundred drops. At the latest by next year, he would be able to cultivate to the peak of Foundation Establishment Stage 3. At this point, it might be time to search for treasures that could assist in crossing bottlenecks.

For example, Mystic Essence. This treasure had helped him cross the threshold of late Qi Condensation and was a great aid in his semi-True Essence transformation. His ability to directly advance back then was due to the foundation he laid during his time at Mystic Bone Mountain.

Speaking of which, he planned to visit the underground palace of Mystic Bone Mountain again after breaking through to Core Formation, as deeper secrets and opportunities were still hidden there.

He still had to wait.

Furthermore, there was a matter he needed to discuss with the Nilin Three Young Masters regarding the Mystic Heaven Secret Realm mentioned in their original contract.

This secret realm was extremely famous throughout the Nilin Blood Sect because it could consistently produce Core Formation spiritual items, and even high-grade Core Formation spiritual items were not uncommon.

There were all kinds of types and attributes. It opened once every fifty years, but with a secret realm key, one could bypass the opening cycle and secretly send people inside.

The terms he had agreed upon with Zuo Qiuming and Zhuo Shouqing were of this nature: cultivators at the peak of Foundation Establishment could enter at any time, but could only take one Core Formation spiritual item from it.

After all, the secret realm belonged to the sect, and he couldn't monopolize its resources.

However, considering the unexpected gains from Jinman Pavilion,

he seemed to have fewer demands for Core Formation spiritual items. This matter required careful long-term consideration. "Time to come out of seclusion, Xue Yu, let's go."

In one year, his personal wealth increased by a million spirit stones, along with nearly eight hundred high-grade spirit stones that couldn't be easily exchanged for lower-grade ones. This was also a huge fortune.

These were high-level resources, capable of being exchanged for treasures beyond his current needs. He saved them all, as they were one of the hard currencies for treasure exchange gatherings.

The three-tailed snow fox, having eaten to a robust and plump state with a noticeably bulging belly, leisurely moved its paws, its expression particularly lazy.

Since becoming Wang Yu's familiar, it had lived the most comfortable life, barely fighting any battles, just eating all day long!

It was so comfortable. Recently, by delving into its bloodline power, it had awakened another spell inheritance called Ice Cloud Escape, a kind of escape technique, which meant it could now fly.

This was actually a symbol of Xue Yu's bloodline transformation and growth.

Ordinary demonic beasts like Earth Rock Ox and Hard-backed Pigs, even if they fortunately broke through to the second stage, would not gain the ability to fly. For demonic beasts, bloodline represented everything!

As for the Alligator Dragon, its dragon bloodline was actually not low. Logically, it should also be able to fly after breaking through to the second stage, but in reality, it could exert its full power more effectively in swamps.

Being able to fly but choosing not to, that described the Alligator Dragon.

Nevertheless, there was a significant difference between having the ability and not. City Lord Wang didn't need to fly himself; he simply rode Xue Yu, who glided on ice mist, and they swiftly left the cavern.

The miners, who had worked for a year, had already withdrawn, leaving only Guan Yingdong waiting for him.

"Let's go. Tell me about the major events that have happened recently."

"Yes, Master."

In the main hall of the manor.

His composed disciple, Yingdong, reported the recent situation in order of importance, from greatest to least.

"Master, the first matter is a message from Senior Jin Miaoshan. She said the agreed-upon time needs to be postponed because her rivals within the pavilion are constantly attacking her, using the previous incident against her. She needs more time to raise funds from branch pavilions in other states."

Wang Yu's mouth twitched.

Hmm, a very reasonable excuse... Never mind. Slower is fine; it won't be slower than him cultivating to the peak of Foundation Establishment anyway.

"Continue."

"Right, the second matter..." Guan Yingdong hesitated slightly, not unwilling to speak, but unsure how to begin.

"The Guan family obtained a secret treasure from Dongjijing."

"Oh?"

Wang Yu's interest was indeed piqued. According to past experience, the number of inheritances within the Dongjijing ruins far exceeded that of treasures, a consequence of the passage of time.

Many treasures, even with complete preservation methods at the time, found it difficult to withstand tens of thousands of years of erosion. Inheritances, however, could be preserved to this day with just a few simple techniques.

Ancient inheritances versus modern ones, theoretically, current methods should be more powerful.

But due to various calamities and wars,

history actually contained many discontinuities. For example, during the ancient Blood Demon calamity, at least 90% of the cultivation world's forces were wiped out, leaving a historical blank of nearly two hundred years.

Therefore, in places with deep historical foundations like ruins, ancient caves, and secret realms, it was possible to encounter opportunities for rapid ascension.

Rumors about such lucky individuals were always circulating.

"Tell me in detail."

"Yes! The secret treasure obtained by the Guan family is a set of shackles, used to imprison criminals. Unlike the current artifact refining system, it is an ancient artifact with a faint trace of spatial power. Its grade is equivalent to a magic treasure used by Core Formation cultivators. It was obtained relatively secretly, but it was still discovered by some cultivators, including two Core Formation cultivators. One is a rogue cultivator from Yunling State, at the early Core Formation stage, known as Venerable Huangsha. The other is the Third Valley Master of Earth Demon Valley, at the mid Core Formation stage, known as True Man Diku."

Two Core Formation cultivators – the pressure on the Guan family was undoubtedly immense. Guan Yingdong mentioning it to him had a simple intention: she hoped he could help.

Could Wang Yu help?

They could hide in the City Lord's Manor and play turtle together, but she couldn't really expect him to go out and kill these two, could she?

It was so chaotic outside; people died easily.

"Sigh—"

Wang Yu sighed. Logically, as they were part of the same interest alliance, he should help, but he had no small amount of trouble himself.

"Just throw that secret treasure away. Give up what needs to be given up. If the Guan family head is unwilling, then they can hide in the City Lord's Manor. In other aspects, I am also powerless."

Guan Yingdong understood that this outcome was already quite good.

Caught between two sides, she was merely a tool and could not be said to favor anyone.

"Your disciple understands. There's also a third matter... There's news regarding the Corpse Refinement Art you requested last time. They are asking whether you want an Armored Corpse or a Fiendish Corpse, and it will be delivered to Guiling City within three months at the latest."

"A Fiendish Corpse. Go arrange it as soon as possible."

"Alright."